Page 122 of Mr. Aster
“Don’t be an asshole,” she said, rolling her eyes at my only other perceived option.
I grinned, “Well, unless you have any other ideas?”
“I do. It’s called Darcy and you need to talk about this more. Settle on whereyou bothwant to live and learn a crucial lesson whileexploring each otherin this relationship.”
“And that is?”
“Compromise and communication,” she said with a smile. “Once you two love birds figure that out, you won’t be wasting my precious time.” She put her hand on her hip and pointed her finger at me teasingly, “You know, I should be furious with you, goddammit. You nearly made me question my ability to find my client the perfect property, which hasneverhappened. Now, I know the only reason you haven’t fallen in love with any of the outrageously impeccable properties I’ve shown you is that you don’t even know if you want to be here. So, like I said, communicate. When you’re ready and confident, finding the perfect place won’t take a minute.”
How funny those two words, compromise and communication, were nowhere in my vocabulary when I was married to Melissa, and they were definitely not values I was raised to exercise. I was in altogether foreign territory, which was highly uncomfortable.
My nerves tightened, not knowing how to deal with any of this. Everything just felt like more work than it should’ve been, and the thought of walking away from yet another home thatdidn’t impress me and flying back to Napa Valley to see my daughter for the first time in months was very daunting.
I was overwhelmed, and my frustration was rising to the point that I hoped Darcy wouldn’t be there. That way, I wouldn’t get stuck detailing why I didn’t like this home either, or even worse, letting her know I wasn’t sure if I could be happy living out here.
Chapter Fifty-One
Darcy
I’d just finished one of my mom’s spiritual yoga classes, and I loved how it made my body feel. I was more relaxed than I had been for the last couple of weeks of dealing with Sebastian’s weird and unpredictable moods.
“Thanks for filling the last spot, honey,” my mom said as we rolled up the last yoga mats. “When Gretchen called to cancel at the last second?—”
“You don’t have to thank me, Mom. You know I don’t mind rounding out your sessions,” I said, smiling at her. “Besides, I know you used Gretchen’s absence as an excuse to get me into this session, if only to breathe the incense and be around the salt crystals to enhance my shitty mood.”
“Well, I had to do something, darling,” she said, reaching for my face and pulling down my bottom eyelid so fast I didn’t have time to bat her hand away. “The natural pinks of your inside lids are pale. You’re deficient in iron, and you’re too skinny. I want to know what’s going on between you and Sebastian.”
Mom only became stern when she thought I wasn’t taking proper care of my health, and she was right. I’d all but lost my appetite with this man, and my reaction to the situation was frustrating at best. I seemed to be in a constant state of trying to figure out what was wrong with him. Had I done something to push Sebastian away? It was dumb, I know, but it stressed me out, nonetheless. Things had been so wonderful, and not in a fake, love-bombing way, just to butter me up and then control me or something. It wasn’t that. Iknewsomething was wrong and just wanted things back to normal.
“Darcy,” my mom snapped her fingers in front of my face, bringing my attention back to her, “what’s going on?”
I blinked a couple of times and exhaled, “If I knew what was going on, I could tell you. He’s just acting sort of…off.”
“Well, the winery’s grand reopening is taking place this weekend. Perhaps he’s just stressed about that?”
“I thought it was that too. I also thought it was because his daughter wanted nothing to do with him or me while she was here and clung to the nanny instead. Then, I thought he was homesick, maybe? Trust me, there are many things I’ve thought could be the issue, but he swears up and down that it’s nothing, and he’s just busy.”
“I think it’s the grand reopening,” Mom said. “But it also seems all that dark and negative energy started after Charlotte arrived. Don’t get me started on my feelings about having a full-time nanny. A child’s primary caregiver should always be a parent. I understand many people work and all that, but at the end of the day, the nanny shouldn’t be more familiar to the child than their parent. She needs to spend some time with her father,” she smiled at me, “and even you, my sweet girl.”
“I’m more concerned that Charlotte doesn’t want to be around her dad than I am about whether she likes me after a five-second introduction,” I said. “Besides, Sebastian and Iaren’t in a relationship solidly enough for her to get attached to me, especially right now when things are sort of off between us. She’s young, and she’s already lost her mother. She doesn’t need to attach to me only to have us break up.”
“That’s nonsense,” my mother said. “I see how that man looks at you, and I feel the love coming from him every time he’s in your presence. Even at dinner last night, he stared at you as if he couldn’t wait to get you back in your room.”
She chuckled, and I rolled my eyes. “Well, if that’s what you saw, then your spirit guides all mislead you,” I teased with a smile, “because the man took a quick shower and was asleep before I finished brushing my teeth.”
Mom pursed her lips and patted my cheek, “That sounds like a man who is exhausted from stress and worries about the grand reopening of this winery. Nothing to worry about in Lover’s Cove,” she winked. “Okay, well, I don’t want you to worry about this. I’m going to have Antonio get to work on a dinner so scrumptious that it will put some meat back on those bones,” she arched an eyebrow at me. “Baby, you already know nothing on this planet should cause you to worry so much that you lose your appetite, especially when Antonio lives with us.”
“You’re right, but let’s not pretend I’m starving to death, okay? You know me better than that,” I said, tempering my mother’s dramatics. I might not have been chowing down as much as usual, but Icertainlywasn’t starving myself over a man. “I didn’t come to your yoga session to make you worry about me.”
“Was there a specific reason why you came?”
“I just wanted to do something kind for you, so you won’t think I’m just up and bailing on the reopening of the winery,” I said. “I just need to get out of here for a while to get my head screwed back on straight.”
“Avoiding, are we?” she arched a reproachful eyebrow.
“I’m not avoiding jack shit,” I affirmed. “I’ve tried to take this head-on with Sebastian, and it’s only pushing him further away. I think we need some time apart to decide if a relationship is what we both want.”
“That’s a responsible way of looking at things. You both did go a bit hard and fast in this relationship,” Mom said.
